For Shame [Paperback]

James B. Twitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1998

Just a generation ago, outrageous Americans like Joey Buttafucco and O.J. Simpson would have been scorned. Talk-show host would gave been viewed with suspicion. Self-help books, the recovery movement, and grade inflation didn't exist.

Today, celebrity is its own reward, and every American has the right to an A and high self-esteem. Much to the joy of Madison Avenue ad agencies and the tabloid press, there is no stigma attached to bad behavior--as long as the perpetrator truly repent, of course. As all Americans have asked themselves at one point or another: What's wrong with this picture?

Now, James B. Twitchell, critically acclaimed author of Adcult and Carnival Culture, offers a fascinating and original look at shame, and shamlessness in American culture, taking to task everyone from conservative hypocrites to bleeding-heart liberals. Whether or not your agree that shame is building block of a healthy society, you'll find this a provocative and addictive read--and you just may decide to reexamine "the social good of feeling bad."

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

``I prefer polemic to precision,'' notes Twitchell (Adcult USA, 1996). This bigoted and shameless tirade proves him correct. Twitchell's title cuts two ways: ``for shame'' implies ``for the promotion of shaming,'' as well as his disapproval of the rise of ``shameless'' behavior since the 1960s, which he views as the crucial turning point in American attitudes toward shame. While he begins by cautioning that he is not a proponent of the life-ruining variety of shame, clearly he intends to cause just such shame, as his polemic quickly descends into uninformed sallies against everything he finds personally offensive. Unfortunately, his Christian chauvinism serves as the primary basis for his judgment, exiling him to a variety of untenable positions. For instance, Twitchell states that Roman Catholicism, with its strict codes governing sexuality, is ``one of the longest-lasting and most stabilizing religions.'' But in fact, with the exception of Islam, Christianity is the youngest of the major world religions--and if the Crusades or present-day Northern Ireland are any indication, the faith is not particularly stabilizing. To claim, as Twitchell does, that sexual codes ``separated Christianity from its earlier competitors'' is just plain wrong; equally strong codes can be found in Judaism. Beyond such matters of history and orthodoxy, the author often displays a failure to grasp simple cause and effect. He attacks the rise in illegitimate births, arguing that the Church's previous dogmas had protected against such lapses, yet he fails to address the Church's present stance against birth control. Ultimately, Twitchell betrays himself as the academy elitist that he is, aligning himself with Allan Bloom and Charles Murray. He even has the nerve to attack the tenure system in universities as one of the causes of shamelessness. Will he surrender his own tenure to prove his point? Shame on Twitchell for this diatribe disguised as cultural critique. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Hilarious...a briskly entertaining little book."-- The Detroit Free Press

"Well worth reading. The questions he raises are critical in pondering, debating and discussing what's required to have a civilized society."-- The Baltimore Sun

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312194536
• ISBN-13: 978-0312194536
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,196,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Curmudgeon With a Point, July 31, 2000

By 

E. Richards "Herself" (Alone with my thoughts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture (Hardcover)

I love a good rant. I adored Paul Fussel's "Class", and enjoy this book quite nicely. He does admit right up front that he (at the time of the writing) is 55 years old. He starts off by describing the concept of shame in a cross cultural sense and maps its decline along the lines of out of wedlock births. There are some very telling graphs showing a somewhat constant rate, which suddenly skyrockets in the 1960s. He goes on to skewer television and how it glamorizes anything that rivets the attention of the demographic most likely to try new products. He nails some media icons who are noteworthy for nothing more than their apparent lack of shame at the misdeeds they have perpetrated or have had perpetrated on them.

He also describes and correctly uses the word schadenfreude, which makes me love him dearly. A curmudgeon with a glorious vocabulary.

The downside to all this, of course, is that the man is shouting into a wind tunnel. As people who lived before the advent of the 1960s (or whose parents raised them with pre-TV values) die off, there will be a whole new culture of vulgarity left behind. But, in the interim, it's nice to know one is not alone in wondering where the constant boundary-pushing is ever going to end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting perspective on modern society, December 31, 2003

By 

JMD "jmd411" (Renton, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture (Hardcover)

It's easy to see similarities between our times and the latter days of the Roman empire. Clearly we're near the far end of the pendulum swing between repression and dissolution. Mr. Twitchell's book "For Shame" does an excellent job of describing how behavior that is unhealthy for a culture has become acceptable and, in some instances, encouraged.

I think this issue would have been better served, however, had he seriously addressed the problems (as he identified them) with suggestions for solutions that deal with where we are and where we are going, rather than obsessing over where we once were. As Mr. Twitchell describes, "One generation attempts to apply taboos, the next attempts to remove them, and so on in an endless Viconian cycle." But he fails to take the next step, to concoct an approach to alter that cycle; instead, he simply urges the taboo-end of the spectrum to hurry up and return.

His comparisons between the Victorian era and today are engaging and enlightening. This book pulled together disparate issues in a way that made evident their commonalities. Very readable; I recommend it.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes some very excellent points. It's worth reading., January 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture (Hardcover)

Contrary to the Kirkus review which I found more academic than the book, and generally misses the point, I found the book quite interesting. I think it made one heck of lot of sense. In fact I'm going to get two of his other books: The Trashing... & the Advertising book.